


The Best Sister In The Multiverse

by Rikaleeta



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: AU Jazz Phantom, F/M, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 06:00:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18565369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikaleeta/pseuds/Rikaleeta
Summary: Clockwork calls Danny to his tower, and he and Val rush there as soon as possible. If he's calling, it's got to be an emergency, right? Only, when they get there, they see something... quite unusual.





	The Best Sister In The Multiverse

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was "Jazz Phantom from an alternate universe in Clockwork's tower." by @heartbeatslows  
> I'm actually super happy with how this came out! I'm a super huge Gray Ghost shipper so uh... yeah this is Gray Ghost. And Val knows Danny is Phantom, obviously, but I thought I'd make sure it was clear '^^

When Danny got one of his rare calls from Clockwork (ok, so they weren’t so much rare as they were nonexistent.) he really wasn’t sure what to expect. And alright, so it wasn’t a call. More like Clockwork calling  _ Time Out  _ in the middle of a ghost fight, slinging a medallion around his neck, telling him to come to his lair, taking the medallion back, and timing back in. Danny had a bunch of extra bruises on his ribs from that little stunt, and the suddenness of Technus being released and sending a toaster barrelling into his torso.

 

Danny sighed, making his bruised bones ache, as he stood at the entrance to the Ghost Zone. “Are you really sure this is such a good idea, Danny?” Sam piped up from behind him. 

 

“Yeah, you know if Clockwork is calling then it must be an emergency.” 

 

“Alright, but I’m coming with you.” It was Val’s voice this time, already letting her red suit flow across her skin.

 

Another sigh escaped Danny’s lips. “Val-”

 

“We’ve been dating for three months, bonehead. When are you going to get it through your head that we’re in this together?”

 

Danny rolled his eyes, but found he couldn’t argue. Rather, he didn’t  _ want  _ to. He found it reassuring whenever Val was with him for the dangerous stuff, even- or maybe especially- in her Red Hunter garb. Telling her about Team Phantom was the best decision of his life. He nodded and stepped to the side, allowing her to join him in front of the portal. He wasn’t able to resist taking her hand, and she responded with a squeeze. 

 

“Ready?” she asked, and even through the visor, he could feel her gaze boring into his. He responded with a nod, and the two leapt into the swirling green together. He let go to allow her to activate and navigate her board more easily. He took his place slightly above her, letting his spectral tail zigzag behind him in the glowing green.

 

Like this, he could almost pretend this was one of their normal, more flirtatious flights through the Ghost Zone- expanding the edges of their map, exchanging bad puns and stealing quick kisses whenever the other seemed to be distracted. Needless to say, the two almost never got much done when they were alone, so Sam had taken it upon herself to chaperone them when they came here on exploratory missions. Not that it helped much- she wound up doing most of the work while the other two flirted. 

 

He would have been able to pretend, that was, if not for the anxiety clawing at his gut. And judging by Val’s silence and the tensed set of her shoulders, it was clawing at hers, too. Danny flew a little closer and laid a gentle hand on her arm, offering a small smile. He could see just enough through the glass to see her return it. Seeming to realise he couldn’t see much of her face, she laid one of her black gloved hands on Danny’s white one. “Cmon. Before we leave Clockwork for too long with this emergency.” She took off faster, looking back over her shoulder tauntingly, challenging Danny to a race they both knew he would win. Still, it was a good way to pass the time, since it took almost an hour to reach Clockwork’s lair (they’d found it last year, between puns and kisses- one of their only bouts of productiveness). No one had yet dared to ask the Ghost Prince when the two had started dating or why they thought playfully shooting at (and missing, of course) each other counted as flirting. 

 

When, finally, Clockwork’s castle came into view, the two sobered and stopped shooting. Danny slowed his pace to be next to Val again.The two flew through one of the bigger windows, navigating the castle with ease. (They may or may not have come here a time or a dozen to try to prank Clockwork. Not an easy feat, but they’d managed a relatively simple one- as soon as he’d phased into his room of mirrors, they dumped water on him, earning a bemused and defeated smile.)

 

When they finally came into the infamous mirror room, Danny wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting to see. But an older version of Danni floating in the middle of the room, talking to Clockwork, was not very high up there.  _ No, not Danni.  _ Danny thought.  _ More like- _

 

She looked over, her eyes widening at the sight of Danny and Val. “Hey, look out!” She cried, firing an ectoblast at the latter. Danny’s heart would have skipped a beat if it beat at all in this form. He managed to throw himself in between the strange ghost and Val just in time for it to hit his already- bruised ribs. He dropped to the floor, clutching them. “Ow, that hurt a lot more than I was expecting….”

 

Valerie reacted immediately, disengaging her suit and sending the ghost a glare. “Damnit, Danny, I  _ told  _ you to stop being so damn self- sacrificial! I can take a hit, you know. I, unlike you,  _ have protection.”  _

 

Danny sent Val an apologetic smile as she dropped to her knees beside him. “Sorry. Protective instincts.” 

 

Val rolled her eyes, helping him up. “More like dumbass instincts.”

 

“Hey, it’s why you love me.” He gave her that annoying smile, that one that meant he knew he’d won the argument and also that he loved her. That one that always made her smile, no matter what. She merely rolled her eyes and dropped a kiss on his forehead.

 

“Wait.” the voice came from above, though it was more like a squawk.  _ “You’re  _ the Red Hunter in this universe? And  _ you two are dating?!” _

 

“Huntress.” Valerie corrected, her voice like icy steel, at the same time as Danny managed to squeak out a “What do you mean,  _ this universe?”  _

 

He was still scanning her face, trying to figure out how he knew her. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say it was Jazz. But that was impossible. Jazz was away at Harvard- thousands of miles from any place with enough ectoplasm to even make her a blip on ghost hunting radar, and also alive and well. 

 

Right?

 

The Jazz lookalike sighed, pressing her forehead into her palm. “I suppose I should start from the beginning.” She floated down to the ground, where Danny now sat with a protective arm around Valerie’s shoulder. She was trying to protect him too, with her arm not even subtly crossing his torso, careful to avoid touching, to rest on the shoulder furthest from her. 

 

“Ok. So… Where to begin….” The ghost now sitting across from them began to chew on her lip. 

 

“How about I begin, young lady?” Clockwork spoke up for the first time since Val and Danny had arrived. At a nod from Jazz, Clockwork morphed into his youngest form and raised his staff. “You’ve heard of the multiverse theory, correct?” It was Danny and Val’s turn to nod, and Clockwork responded by changing into his middle aged appearance. “Well, the multiverse theory is very much real. This young lady here-” he gestured to the Jazz doppelganger, and aged up once again- “is from one such alternative universe. A universe where Danny Fenton was not in the Portal accident. Rather, Jasmine Fenton was.”

 

“Ancients.” Danny hissed. “So you really  _ are  _ Jazz.” The specter opposite them nodded. “Apparently, it caused a whole bunch of things in my universe to be different. Like you’re not the Red Hunter- Huntress, Val. Dash is the Red Hunter, if you can call him a hunter. He’s so inept he’s an inconvenience at most.” Her brow furrowed. “Speaking of, how are you two dating? Is he not the reason you became a ghost hunter?”

 

Val burst out laughing. “Oh, he is. I was mad at him for a whole year, till he grew a spine and told me.”

 

“‘Scuse me, I am a proud member of the spineless. Matter of fact, I don’t have any bones at all right now.”

 

“Yeah, tell that to your ribs. And the toaster Technus chucked at them.” 

 

Danny laughed. “Yeah, fair point.” 

 

Jazz watched the two of then owlishly, her mouth agape. “Sorry. It's just… back home, you  _ hate  _ each other. And  _ you _ still have a thing for Paulina.”

 

Val and Danny both made a face. Danny shuddered. “Let's just say… Paulina will go to extreme measures to get the attention of the ghost boy.”

 

A chuckle bubbled from Valerie's throat. Jazz guessed there was a story behind that one. “Anyway.” The Huntress was trying to stop laughing, but her lips still twitched. She craned her neck upward to look at Clockwork, who was back in his middle aged form. “I'm guessing you called us because you somehow think we can get Jazz back to her universe?”

 

Clockwork nodded, lifting his hand to stroke the beard that wasn't there in this form. He morphed into his older self just as his fingers brushed the hairs. “Indeed. Since Danny can open portals, I figured he was the best one to call.”

 

Danny blanched. “I can?”

 

Bushy eyebrows furrowed, becoming distinctly less hairy as Clockwork became a child again. “Right.” He said after a moment. “We're not there yet.” He sighed, rubbing his chin, as he turned around. “Everything got jumbled around after Dan-”

 

Danny's shoulders immediately stiffened. Like they always did whenever his evil future self was mentioned. Guilt roiled in his gut, even though in this timeline he hadn't actually done anything evil. Valerie laid a soothing hand on his shoulder, then slid her hand around his back to engulf him in a one- armed hug. Jazz looked at them curiously. Even Clockwork seemed to pick up on the mood change, which was impressive. He had never been the best at reading emotions. He turned to face them, middle aged again, blinking. “Right. Sorry, that was insensitive, wasn't it?” He turned back around, scratching at his head over his hood, going to the corner to rifle through some things. 

 

Jazz raised her eyebrows as Danny tried to relax. “I’m guessing there’s a story behind that?”

 

Danny nodded. “Let’s just say there was a future me that was a very bad dude. I defeated him, but still…” Jazz nodded in understanding. If it had happened to her, she would be terrified of becoming that evil version. Even if she had defeated her. 

 

Across the room, Clockwork let out a victorious “aha!” He returned to them, a child again, holding what looked like a dog whistle in his small hand. Danny arched an eyebrow, Val raised both of hers in an unimpressed manner, and Jazz pursed her lips. How was a dog whistle supposed to help.

 

Clockwork took in their dubious looks and sighed. “I keep forgetting I’m the only one who knows everything.” He held up the dog whist, growing into his middle- aged form again. It gave the whistle the appearance of shrinking as his hand grew around it, nearly hiding it from view now. “Wulf can open portals, but only to this dimension’s Human Zone. If we call him here, we can have him teach Danny to make portals, albeit sooner than expected, and he can make a portal to get Jazz home.”

 

Danny looked extremely unsure at the plan. Val knew he got anxious whenever he got new powers, because he was afraid it brought him one step closer to Dan. He’d had a panic attack lasting several hours when he discovered his newfound ability to speak any language. (A normal thing for ghosts, apparently.) She could only imagine his apprehension at getting a power early. “Why can’t Wulf teach Jazz to make portals?” She saw Danny relax out the corner of her eye, and she squeezed Danny’s shoulder in support with the hand that was still on his shoulder. 

 

“Portals are tricky things.” Clockwork answered cryptically. Thankfully, for once in his life, he elaborated. “While it’s possible to create portals to other dimensions, it isn’t possible to create a portal once in that dimension.” 

 

“Then why can’t Wulf create a portal to my dimension?” Jazz piped up. 

 

“He can’t.” And just like that, Clockwork’s cryptic, unhelpful answers were back.

 

Danny sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “Alright, I’ll do it.” 

 

\--------

 

As it turned out, making portals wasn’t that hard. It wasn’t so different from manipulating ectoplasm. It was hard to explain, but ectoplasm was sticky and liked to adhere to spacetime. All Danny had to do was attach it to the metaphorical fabric and stretch. In seconds, the hole would be torn, and a portal was created.

 

The hard part was making the portal go where he wanted. So far his most notable portal transportas included a 1965 diner, the Triassic Era, a gladiator fight in ancient Rome, and London in the middle of one of its burnings. All of his attempts to decide on the ending point thus far had failed- even when he was trying somewhere simple, like five feet to the right. That one had taken them on “a warp tour of Shakespearean proportions”, as Jazz had said. Apparently this Jazz was a fair bit better with puns. Which wasn’t saying much, if you asked Danny, but still. 

 

Jazz watched in concern as her brother huffed and puffed, letting the latest portal close. He growled in frustration, tearing at his hair. “Why can’t I get this right?!”

 

Jazz floated up beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe you should take a break, little brother.”

 

He sighed, lowering himself to the ground. “I  _ can’t,  _ Jazz. Everyone in your universe is probably super worried about you. I-”

 

“Danny, stop being such a  _ dumbass.”  _ Valerie punched him lightly in the arm, not hard enough to actually hurt. “You’re allowed to take a break. Yeah, this Jazz’s family is probably worried. But a few more hours for you to  _ sleep _ or at least  _ rest  _ is not going to affect it.”

 

“Yeah, but-”

 

“No buts. You’re resting. Clockwork, do you still have those chocolate bars we stashed here?” Valerie gave Danny a quick forehead kiss, getting up to look for them.

 

Jazz lowered herself next to her brother. “Sorry to be such a nuisance, little brother.” 

 

He rolled his eyes, his hand flying to his neck again. “You’re not a nuisance, Jazz. I’m more frustrated with myself than anything else.”

 

The Ghost Girl bumped his shoulder with hers. “Don’t be, Danny. You learned how to make portals in just a couple hours, and you’re getting better at deciding the location of them.” At Danny’s withering yet skeptical scowl, she laughed. “Well, at least they’re going to the right time period now. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing another real Shakespeare play.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Danny chuckled. “Maybe I’ll take my Jazz to see one.” 

 

Jazz grinned widely at this. “That’s really sweet of you, Danny.” 

 

He scratched the back of his head, took a deep breath. “So, uh, Jazz? How’d you get to my universe, anyway?” 

 

Jazz puller her lip into her mouth to worry at it, thinking. “Last thing I remember is fighting Technus. I almost had them too. But a natural portal opened near our fight, and they shoved me in before I could suck them into my lipstick tube.”

 

:”Lipstick tube?”

 

“Yeah?” She arched an eyebrow, reaching into her pocket to produce something that looked like a fusion between the Fenton Lipstick Blaster and the Fenton Thermos. “This is what I use to capture ghosts. Do you not have that here?”

 

“Nope.” He said, popping the  _ p. _ He pulled the thermos from where it was clipped to his belt and tucked into a pocket. “We use this.” She raised her eyebrows at it. 

 

“Huh. Our Fenton Thermos is a hidden ecto- gun.”

 

“Same with your lipstick for us.” 

 

Jazz nodded. “Guess all kinds of things are switched up between our universes.” She paused. “So… how are your grades in this universe? Because I know mine have been suffering from this whole…” she gestured to herself.

 

Danny’s entire form shrunk. He tugged his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, propping his chin on top. “Not good. But, like, even if I managed to get my grades up enough to go to a good college, and even if I managed to keep  _ those  _ grades high enough to get into NASA… I’d never get to go to space. I’d fail the health exams, not to mention I’d be lucky to keep myself out of a lab. Only on the table instead of in front of it.” 

 

Jazz put her arm around Danny’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry, Danny. I wish I could help with that.” 

 

Her brother sighed. “Worst part is, I wouldn’t change it, you know? If you told me before I went in the stupid portal that all this was gonna happen, I’d still go in. Hell, I’d push the damn button on purpose.”

 

The older girl nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” 

 

\------

 

Danny didn’t even realise he’d fallen asleep until Valerie gently shook him awake. She offered him a soft smile and a chocolate bar, and Danny took the opportunity while she was so close to steal a quick kiss. “Thanks, Val. How long was I out?”

 

“About an hour. I would’ve let you sleep longer, but I think you would’ve gone even deeper into freakout mode. So you can at least eat before you go back to ripping open spacetime.”

 

Val sat down next to Danny as he laughed. She laid her head on his shoulder, and the corresponding hand automatically wrapped around her shoulder. “I love you, Val.”

 

“Love you, too, Danny.” She heard his contented hum before he ripped open the chocolate with one hand, with only a little difficulty. 

 

It took him only a couple minutes to finish the chocolate, and he insisted on going right back to practicing. She let him up with a little protest, mostly telling him he should rest some more, but eventually removed her head from his shoulder.

 

Jazz had gone to talk with Clockwork some more, but was back now. Danny was having a little more success now- his portals now- they all led to the time he wanted them to, and they were getting ever closer to the location he’d told them to go to.

 

After a couple dozen tries, Danny let out a victorious whoop. Jazz was in the air immediately, Valerie not far behind on her board. They could make out the Fenton basement through the swirling green vortex, with Sam and Tucker both sitting cross- legged on the floor on some sort of portable game console. 

 

Valerie and Jazz both hugged him at the same time. Their praises overlapped as they held him between them, until they could barely tell who was saying what. 

 

“Congrats, little brother!”

 

:”I knew you could do it, Danny!”

 

“It only took a few hours!”

 

“It’s the fastest you’ve ever mastered a new power!”

 

Clockwork watched the three hug, an amused smile on his bearded face. He knew Danny still had a while to go before he could open portals into other dimensions, but this was a great start. He floated forward, compacting into a child, to clap his mentee on the shoulder. “Congratulations, Danny. Opening an interdimensional portal will be much harder, but I think with a little more practice you will have it. For now, you should go home and rest. Jasmine can stay here for the time being.”

 

“What? No! A few hours missing is one thing, but overnight? I would be three times as worried if my Jazz was missing overnight!  _ Especially  _ if my Jazz was prone to ghost fighting!”

 

“Time is a funny thing, Danny.” Clockwork began, and Danny arched an eyebrow as if to say  _ you? Funny?  _ Clockwork continued as if he hadn’t noticed. “Jasmine may go back and find that while she spent an entire day and night here, only a couple hours passed in her dimension.” He didn’t mention that the statement was conversely true as well, and weeks may even have passed since she left her home. Danny looked mollified for now, and he needed rest. No reason to give him an excuse to continue arguing. 

 

Danny sighed. “Alright.” He said. “But tomorrow’s Saturday, and I’m coming back first thing in the morning.”

 

Jazz gave her little brother a hug. “Thanks, Danny. But don’t put all your energy into this. There are other things that need your energy more than me, brother.” 

 

He sighed, hugging her back. “Yeah, but right now you’re the most important.”

 

Val put a hand on his shoulder. Danny separated from Jazz, turning to leave with his girlfriend. Truth be told, as much as he wanted to help Jazz, he was eager to go home, take off his binder, hop in the shower, and collapse in bed.

 

\----------

 

True to his word, Danny was back early the next day. Valerie wasn’t far behind him, blinking blearily but not complaining. “We never get to hang out outside of ghost fighting or school. This was a nice change of pace.” She told Clockwork and Jazz by way of explanation. 

 

Danny went at his training full force immediately, and Val and Jazz sat on the ground below and watched. He quickly discovered he could  _ feel  _ the dimensional “fabric”, rippling right behind spacetime’s, but it was slippery and hard to get a hold of, much less tear open. Sort of like trying to grip wet silk with a piece of flat metal. 

 

He tried cutting it open, rather than tearing, by making the ring sharp, to no avail. He tried making a sharp point with the ectoplasm, puncturing it, and expanding from there. He had better luck with that. A couple hours later, he had a functioning portal to an alternate universe. They could tell it wasn’t their own because everyone seemed to have fully functional wings. 

 

Danny sighed and dropped down to the ground, leaning back. “Now I just gotta figure out how to make the portal to take me to the universe I want to go to.”

 

Valerie laughed, handing Danny a sandwich from the lunch sack he’d brought. She kept one for herself and handed another to Jazz. “Still, you broke the dimensional barrier in two days, Danny. Something scientists have been trying to do and failing for years.”   
  


“Yeah, but I have something they don’t.” Danny joked, wiggling his fingers and letting a tiny bit of ectoplasm gather there. Valerie laughed again and leaned forward like she was going to kiss him, only to turn left at the last second and snag a bite of his sandwich. 

 

At Danny’s mock offended face, she laughed and gave him a toothy grin. “Early bird gets worm.” Danny gave an over exaggerated  _ ugh! _ , leaning forward and snagging a bite of hers. 

 

“Eye for an eye.”

 

Jazz watched the two with a small smile on her face. “I’m glad you’re so happy, little brother. In my universe, even though your grades may be better, you don’t seem very happy.”

 

Danny paused, considering. “Yeah, but at least my future’s safe there. My grades aren’t tanked, so I can still get into a good school, and even if I don’t get into NASA, I can get a good job. Still, though,” He looked right at Valerie, “I wouldn’t give up this life for that one, ever.”

 

“Oh, stop it, you!” Valere let out a boisterous laugh, giving him a light smack. “Stop being so cheesy.”

 

“You love cheese.”

 

“You’re  _ so  _ lucky I’m not lactose intolerant.” She leaned forward to give him a peck on the lips, earning a smile and a laugh. Jazz shook her head, smiling and genuinely happy for this version of her brother. 

 

\-----------

 

A few hours and many, many interdimensional portals later, Danny finally felt like he had it down. He sucked in a breath, turning to face where the girls were chatting. “Hey, Jazz! I think I might have it, I need you to look through and see if it looks like home!”

 

Jazz got up, worry gnawing at the back of her mind. What if it  _ looked  _ like home, but it wasn’t? He floated up, waiting for Danny to open the portal.

 

Clockwork seemed to sense her worry from the corner of the room where he was keeping an eye on the timeline. “No need to look through, Jasmine. You can put a limb through, it won’t harm you. You should know immediately if it’s the dimension you’re from.”

 

“How will I know?” 

 

“You’ll know when you feel it.” 

 

Jazz muttered under her breath about cryptic old ghosts, earning a laugh from an exhausted- looking Danny. He faced away from her again, putting his palms perpendicular to the ground, and summoned what he thought was the right portal. Jazz uncertainty put her hand through.

 

Her entire body instantly relaxed. It felt like all the cells and atoms in her molecules in her hand were singing with the energy in the dimension beyond the portal. Her whole being felt energized in a way it hadn’t since she’d come to Danny’s dimension. She hadn’t noticed the difference until now, but now that her hand was feeling it, it felt inexplicably like  _ home.  _ She smiled. “This is it.”

 

“Great.” Danny practically grunted. “I’d love to have a heartfelt goodbye, but I don’t know for sure if I can open this portal to this exact location again, and I can’t keep it open much longer.” Jazz actually looked through the portal, realizing she hadn’t yet. It was above the roofs of her neighborhood, with a clear view of FentonWorks. She smiled, retracting her hand. She instantly felt tired again. 

 

“Thanks for the help, little brother.” She said, pulling Danny into a hug. Valerie had joined them in the air, and Jazz pulled her into a hug, too. “Thanks for making him so happy.”

 

Valerie turned scarlet. “It’s not all me, it’s Sam and Tucker too, I-”

 

“Val, you make him really happy. Sure, Sam and Tucker and other things do too, but so do you. More than you realise.” Val and Danny were both blushing at this point. Danny muttered something about holding the portal making him sweat, even though they all knew he didn’t sweat in his ghost form. His core kept him too cold for that. Jazz barked out a laugh. “Guess that’s my cue to leave, then.” She turned back toward the portal, waving over her head. “Bye, guys! Thanks for the help!”

 

As soon as she was through, Danny let the portal close and sunk to the ground. Valerie followed, sitting next to him as he relaxed. 

 

They could go back later, she decided. For now, she was content to lay here with him, resting after all his efforts.

 

\------------

 

After Danny rested a bit, the two were prepared to leave. They were just about to leave when Clockwork, in all his bearded glory, laid a hand on Danny’s shoulder.

 

“Danel.”

 

“Uh, yeah? What’s up, Clockwork?”

 

The ghost shifted into his child form, fixing Danny in his kind gaze. “It’s ok, Danny. Learning this early didn’t bring Dan back. If you continue on this path, you will not become evil.”

 

Danny let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. “Thanks, Clockwork.”

 

The flight back was a lot less playful than the first one to Clockwork’s tower. This time, the two seemed content to hold hands and stay in comfortable silence. Valerie even let Danny hitch a ride on her board part of the way back.

 

When they emerged, Sam and Tucker leapt up, aiming ecto guns at them. When they realised who it was, they lowered them, but their panic didn’t abate. 

 

Sam was the first to speak. “You guys, what the hell? You came back last night after we had to go home, and you went back in before we even woke up!”

 

Danny let out a tired laugh. “You guys, you’re never going to believe what happened.”


End file.
